November 2019 Produce Parable

Adam Calder, Produce Manager

Autumn’s bounty is abundant in the produce department! Right now our two biggest starts of the season are local apples and local winter squash. With so much variety to choose from, you can rest assured you will find just the right produce for your home-cooked meal.

Let’s start with apples. Looking for an apple to bake into a pie or crisp? The Rome, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apple will work great with their balance of firmness, sweetness and acidity. Interested in making some apple sauce? The Spartan or Enterprise apples are juicy with a soft flesh that cooks down easily into a silky smooth sauce. If you are looking for a fresh apple to chop in a salad that will add texture and color but won’t overwhelm the other flavors in your salad, the Golden Delicious and Original Delicious are a great addition. Any and all of these apples can be eaten and enjoyed fresh, and the Chieftain, Liberty and Honeycrisp apples are especially good for snacking. Chieftains are firm with a white flesh, Liberty apples are juicy with a sweet/tart taste and Honeycrisp apples have swiftly become one of everyone’s favorite apple variety with their crunchy flesh dripping with an almost honey-like sweetness.

The local winter squash varieties we have for sale are the perfect companion for local apples when you are baking up your favorite autumnal treats. We’ve got acorn squash for stuffing and baking, butternuts for silky smooth soups; quick-cooking delicata with their thin and edible rinds; kabocha squash for tempura, sweet and richly flavored pie pumpkins for that beloved holiday dessert; spaghetti squash for baking and tossing with sauce; and adorable little honeynut squash which are basically individually sized butternuts with a charmingly nutty flavor.

With so many options, you can mix and match to your hearts content until you find a perfect combination of textures, colors and flavors to bring the splendor of the autumn season bursting forth from your home cooked meals